Leading nanoscientists from other Asian countries, the United States and Europe and are scheduled to speak during the January 17-19 event, including Don Eigler of IBM Almaden Research Centre, Prof Albert P Pisano of University of California at Berkeley, Dr Meyya Meyyappan of Nasa Ames Research Centre, Prof Satoshi Kawata of Osaka University and Prof Mike Stuke of the Max Plank Institute in Germany.

The event - technically known as the second annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems - will disseminate the latest research results and allow cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge to further advance relevant technological fields.

It will also feature a workshop on commercialisation of nanotechnology. According to the tentative schedule, topics to be presented at the workshop include "Commercialisation of MEMS/NEMS in Tohoku University by open collaboration" by Prof Masayoshi Esashi of Tohoku University; "Role of university research for open innovations in MNT" by Prof Osamu Tabata of Kyoto University; "Case study: The commercialisation of multi-axis inertial sensor technology" by Louis J Ross of US-based Virtus Advanced Sensors; "Seawater desalination by RO membrane" by Dr Tadahiro Uemura of Toray Industries; "MEMS - commercialisation & future vision" by George Yokoi of Olympus Corp, Japan; "Micro joining techniques to enable product miniaturization" by Kunio Yoshida of AJI Co Ltd, Japan; and "Recent trends of micro/nanotech commercialisation in Asia" by Miwako Waga of GETI, Japan.

According to the experts, micro-engineered and molecular systems, or MEMs, are downsizing and becoming nano-electromechanical systems, but at the same time MEMs are also indispensable in building complete nano-devices and systems.

While nanotechnology might still sound "alien" to most non-scientists, Pairash told me that in the next 10 to 20 years it would become very important to Thailand's international competitiveness because nano-science will lead to the convergence of human knowledge in physics, chemistry, biology, electronics, mechanical engineering and other fields.

In other words, science at the nano-scale (a nanometre is one-trillionth of a metre - a human hair, for example, is about 80,000 nanometres wide) has the potential to revolutionise industries and businesses as well as human life in coming decades.

Two centuries ago we witnessed the industrial revolution. During the 1960s we saw the birth of information technology, which has now become so popular due to the ubiquitous Internet. More recently we've seen the rise of biotechnology. Now, it's probably the era of nanoscience.

According to Pairash, nanoscience will lead to new designs and engineering of molecules and atoms on a nanoscale. Materials and systems built on this scale exhibit novel and significantly improved physical, chemical and biological properties - phenomena and processes never seen before at the conventional microscopic level.

For example, a promising nanostructure material known as the carbon nanotube has a tensile strength more than 100 times that of steel. Carbon nanotubes are not only extremely strong and stiff but also behave like metals and semiconductors and have excellent thermal conductivity, said Pairash.

In microelectronics, which is at the heart of information technology as well as the Internet, nanotech offers the potential to exceed the theoretical limit currently set by Moore's law, according to which computing power doubles every 18 months.

"We're approaching that limit in the manufacturing of microchips. Currently the world's best technology can produce chips 0.35 microns thick or even 0.18 microns [a micron is one-millionth of a metre]. After 0.18 microns, there are problems of overheating and engineering [in building the chips]. Here, nano-devices such as a single electron and quantum-dot devices could come to the rescue," said Pairash.

In medicine, nanoscience could lead to construction of a bio-robot or bio-submarine, propelled by a bio-motor, of about 100 nanometres in size that could travel along our blood vessels to detect and correct any cell abnormalities.

It would be possible because a red blood cell is about 7,000 nanometres across, a typical virus about 100 nanometres wide and a strand of DNA a mere two nanometres long, according to Keelin Murphy of Ireland's Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructrures and Nanodevices (Crann).

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com